U.S. patent application number 16/358260 was filed with the patent office on 2020-09-24 for systems and methods for multiple element selection in performance analytics dashboard breakdown.
The applicant listed for this patent is ServiceNow, Inc.. Invention is credited to Gurupada Das, Petrus Goris, Abhijith Thette Nagarajan, Isaak Papagiannidis, Marta Penzo.
Application Number | 20200301803 16/358260 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004005985 |
Filed Date | 2020-09-24 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200301803 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Penzo; Marta ; et
al. |
September 24, 2020 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MULTIPLE ELEMENT SELECTION IN PERFORMANCE
ANALYTICS DASHBOARD BREAKDOWN
Abstract
A performance analytics dashboard may receive a selection of
multiple breakdown elements and update a visualization within the
widget based on the selected breakdown elements. The widget may
have an aggregate view type or a separate view type. In the
aggregate view type, data associated with the selected breakdown
elements is combined into a single plot. In the separate view type,
data associated with the selected breakdown elements is kept
separate and shown in separate respective plots.
Inventors: |
Penzo; Marta; (Amsterdam,
NL) ; Das; Gurupada; (Hyderabad, IN) ; Goris;
Petrus; (Amsterdam, NL) ; Nagarajan; Abhijith
Thette; (Amstelveen, NL) ; Papagiannidis; Isaak;
(Amsterdam, NL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ServiceNow, Inc. |
Santa Clara |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000004005985 |
Appl. No.: |
16/358260 |
Filed: |
March 19, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 11/3409 20130101;
G06F 11/324 20130101; G06F 11/321 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 11/32 20060101
G06F011/32; G06F 11/34 20060101 G06F011/34 |
Claims
1. A system, comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memory
storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause
the processor to: receive indication of a widget view type; receive
selection of a first breakdown element; update a widget based on
the widget view type and the first breakdown element; receive
selection of a second breakdown element; and update the widget
based on the widget view type, the first breakdown element, and the
second breakdown element.
2. The system of claim 1, when in the instructions, when executed
by the processor, cause the processor to: receive selection of a
third breakdown element; and update the widget based on the widget
view type, the first breakdown element, the second breakdown
element, and the third breakdown element.
3. The system of claim 2, when in the instructions, when executed
by the processor, cause the processor to: receive selection of a
fourth breakdown element; and update the widget based on the widget
view type, the first breakdown element, the second breakdown
element, the third breakdown element, and the fourth breakdown
element.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the widget view type comprises an
aggregate view type or a separate view type.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the aggregate view type
aggregates data associated with the first breakdown element and the
second breakdown element into a single plot.
6. The system of claim 4, wherein the separate view type separates
data associated with the first breakdown element and the second
breakdown element into first and second respective plots.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the widget is one of a plurality
of widgets within a dashboard.
8. A method, comprising: receiving indication of a widget view
type, wherein the widget view type comprises an aggregate view type
or a separate view type; receiving selection of a first breakdown
element; updating a widget based on the widget view type and the
first breakdown element; receiving selection of a second breakdown
element; and updating the widget based on the widget view type, the
first breakdown element, and the second breakdown element.
9. The method of claim 8, comprising: receiving selection of a
third breakdown element; and updating the widget based on the
widget view type, the first breakdown element, the second breakdown
element, and the third breakdown element.
10. The method of claim 9, comprising: receiving selection of a
fourth breakdown element; and updating the widget based on the
widget view type, the first breakdown element, the second breakdown
element, the third breakdown element, and the fourth breakdown
element.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the aggregate view type
aggregates data associated with the first breakdown element and the
second breakdown element into a single plot.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the separate view type separates
data associated with the first breakdown element and the second
breakdown element into first and second respective plots.
13. The method of claim 8, comprising generating the widget for
display.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the widget is one of a plurality
of widgets within a dashboard.
15. A non-transitory, computer readable medium, storing
instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the
processor to: generate a widget for display; receive selection of a
first breakdown element; update the widget based on a widget view
type and the first breakdown element, wherein the widget view type
comprises an aggregate view type or a separate view type; receive
selection of a second breakdown element; and update the widget
based on the widget view type, the first breakdown element, and the
second breakdown element.
16. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 15,
storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause
the processor to: receive selection of a third breakdown element;
and update the widget based on the widget view type, the first
breakdown element, the second breakdown element, and the third
breakdown element.
17. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 16,
storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause
the processor to: receive selection of a fourth breakdown element;
and update the widget based on the widget view type, the first
breakdown element, the second breakdown element, the third
breakdown element, and the fourth breakdown element.
18. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 15,
wherein the aggregate view type aggregates data associated with the
first breakdown element and the second breakdown element into a
single plot, and wherein the separate view type separates data
associated with the first breakdown element and the second
breakdown element into first and second respective plots.
19. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 15,
wherein the widget is one of a plurality of widgets within a
dashboard.
20. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the plurality of widgets within the dashboard include a
first widget of the aggregate view type and a second widget of the
separate view type.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to performance
analytics dashboards and, more specifically to breakdown element
selection for widgets within a performance analytics dashboard.
[0002] This section is intended to introduce the reader to various
aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the
present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This
discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with
background information to facilitate a better understanding of the
various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should
be understood that these statements are to be read in this light,
and not as admissions of prior art.
[0003] Organizations, regardless of size, rely upon access to
information technology (IT) and data and services for their
continued operation and success. A respective organization's IT
infrastructure may have associated hardware resources (e.g.
computing devices, load balancers, firewalls, switches, etc.) and
software resources (e.g. productivity software, database
applications, custom applications, and so forth). Over time, more
and more organizations have turned to cloud computing approaches to
supplement or enhance their IT infrastructure solutions.
[0004] Cloud computing relates to the sharing of computing
resources that are generally accessed via the Internet. In
particular, a cloud computing infrastructure allows users, such as
individuals and/or enterprises, to access a shared pool of
computing resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks,
applications, and/or other computing based services. By doing so,
users are able to access computing resources on demand that are
located at remote locations, which resources may be used to perform
a variety computing functions (e.g., storing and/or processing
large quantities of computing data). For enterprise and other
organization users, cloud computing provides flexibility in
accessing cloud computing resources without accruing large up-front
costs, such as purchasing expensive network equipment or investing
large amounts of time in establishing a private network
infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing cloud computing resources,
users are able redirect their resources to focus on their
enterprise's core functions.
[0005] In modern communication networks, examples of cloud
computing services a user may utilize include so-called
infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS),
and platform as a service (PaaS) technologies. IaaS is a model in
which providers abstract away the complexity of hardware
infrastructure and provide rapid, simplified provisioning of
virtual servers and storage, giving enterprises access to computing
capacity on demand. In such an approach, however, a user may be
left to install and maintain platform components and applications.
SaaS is a delivery model that provides software as a service rather
than an end product. Instead of utilizing a local network or
individual software installations, software is typically licensed
on a subscription basis, hosted on a remote machine, and accessed
by client customers as needed. For example, users are generally
able to access a variety of enterprise and/or information
technology (IT)-related software via a web browser. PaaS acts an
extension of SaaS that goes beyond providing software services by
offering customizability and expandability features to meet a
user's needs. For example, PaaS can provide a cloud-based
developmental platform for users to develop, modify, and/or
customize applications and/or automating enterprise operations
without maintaining network infrastructure and/or allocating
computing resources normally associated with these functions.
[0006] A performance analytics dashboard may include multiple
widgets, customizable by a user to generate and display
visualizations of data. Breakdown elements may be available for
selection by the user to filter and/or sort data for the
visualizations. However, existing breakdown element selection
capabilities may result in the user toggling between multiple
widgets, and thus missing a complete understanding of the
underlying data.
SUMMARY
[0007] A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set
forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are
presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of
these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended
to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may
encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.
[0008] The disclosed subject matter includes techniques for
receiving selection of multiple breakdown elements and updating a
visualization within the widget based on the selected breakdown
elements. The widget may have an aggregate view type or a separate
view type. In the aggregate view type, data associated with the
selected breakdown elements is combined into a single plot. In the
separate view type, data associated with the selected breakdown
elements is kept separate and shown in separate respective plots.
The widget may be part of a dashboard having multiple widgets. The
dashboard may include some widgets having an aggregate view type
and other widgets having a separate view type.
[0009] Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in
relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further
features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well.
These refinements and additional features may exist individually or
in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below
in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be
incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present
disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented
above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain
aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure
without limitation to the claimed subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood
upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference
to the drawings in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a
multi-instance cloud architecture in which embodiments of the
present disclosure may operate;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a
multi-instance cloud architecture in which embodiments of the
present disclosure may operate;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computing device utilized in
a computing system that may be present in FIG. 1 or 2, in
accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment in
which a virtual server supports and enables the client instance, in
accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating performance analytics
and reporting (PAR) features facilitated through a homepage and/or
a dashboard, in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard of
FIG. 5, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
shown in FIG. 6 with a breakdown element field selected, in
accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0018] FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with a software breakdown element selected,
in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
shown in FIGS. 6-8 with the software breakdown element selected and
breakdown element field selected, in accordance with aspects of the
present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 10 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
shown in FIGS. 6-9 with the software breakdown element and a
network breakdown element selected, as well as the breakdown
element field, in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 11 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
shown in FIGS. 6-10 with the software breakdown element, the
network breakdown element, and the database breakdown element
selected, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 12 is a screenshot of a widget definition interface, by
which a user may define one or more aspects of the widget,
including whether the widget displays an aggregate view or a
separate view when multiple breakdown elements are selected, in
accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 13 is illustrates an embodiment of a dropdown menu that
appears when the breakdown element field is selected, in accordance
with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 14 is illustrates an embodiment of the dropdown menu
that appears when the breakdown element field is selected and an
"applied" option is selected in a sort bar, in accordance with
aspects of the present disclosure; and
[0025] FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a process for updating the widget
based on selection of breakdown elements, in accordance with
aspects of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In
an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments,
not all features of an actual implementation are described in the
specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of
any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design
project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to
achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with
system-related and enterprise-related constraints, which may vary
from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be
appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and
time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of
design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill
having the benefit of this disclosure.
[0027] As used herein, the term "computing system" refers to an
electronic computing device such as, but not limited to, a single
computer, virtual machine, virtual container, host, server, laptop,
and/or mobile device, or to a plurality of electronic computing
devices working together to perform the function described as being
performed on or by the computing system. As used herein, the term
"medium" refers to one or more non-transitory, computer-readable
physical media that together store the contents described as being
stored thereon. Embodiments may include non-volatile secondary
storage, read-only memory (ROM), and/or random-access memory (RAM).
As used herein, the term "application" refers to one or more
computing modules, programs, processes, workloads, threads and/or a
set of computing instructions executed by a computing system.
Example embodiments of an application include software modules,
software objects, software instances and/or other types of
executable code. As used herein, the terms alerts, incidents
(INTs), changes (CHGs), and problems (PRBs) are used in accordance
with the generally accepted use of the terminology for CMDBs.
Moreover, the term "issues" with respect to a CI of a CMDB
collectively refers to alerts, INTs, CHGs, and PRBs associated with
the CI.
[0028] A performance analytics systems may include a dashboard
having multiple widgets, customizable by a user to generate and
display visualizations of data. Breakdown elements may be
selectable by the user to filter and/or sort data for the
visualizations. The disclosed techniques include receiving
selection of multiple breakdown elements and updating a
visualization within the widget based on the selected breakdown
elements. The widget may have an aggregate view type or a separate
view type. In the aggregate view type, data associated with the
selected breakdown elements is combined into a single plot. In the
separate view type, data associated with the selected breakdown
elements is kept separate and shown in separate respective plots.
The widget may be part of a dashboard having multiple widgets. The
dashboard may include some widgets having an aggregate view type
and other widgets having a separate view type.
[0029] With the preceding in mind, the following figures relate to
various types of generalized system architectures or configurations
that may be employed to provide services to an organization in a
multi-instance framework and on which the present approaches may be
employed. Correspondingly, these system and platform examples may
also relate to systems and platforms on which the techniques
discussed herein may be implemented or otherwise utilized. Turning
now to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a cloud
computing system 10 where embodiments of the present disclosure may
operate, is illustrated. The cloud computing system 10 may include
a client network 12, a network 14 (e.g., the Internet), and a
cloud-based platform 16. In some implementations, the cloud-based
platform 16 may be a configuration management database (CMDB)
platform. In one embodiment, the client network 12 may be a local
private network, such as local area network (LAN) having a variety
of network devices that include, but are not limited to, switches,
servers, and routers. In another embodiment, the client network 12
represents an enterprise network that could include one or more
LANs, virtual networks, data centers 18, and/or other remote
networks. As shown in FIG. 1, the client network 12 is able to
connect to one or more client devices 20A, 20B, and 20C so that the
client devices are able to communicate with each other and/or with
the network hosting the platform 16. The client devices 20 may be
computing systems and/or other types of computing devices generally
referred to as Internet of Things (IoT) devices that access cloud
computing services, for example, via a web browser application or
via an edge device 22 that may act as a gateway between the client
devices 20 and the platform 16. FIG. 1 also illustrates that the
client network 12 includes an administration or managerial device
or server, such as a management, instrumentation, and discovery
(MID) server 24 that facilitates communication of data between the
network hosting the platform 16, other external applications, data
sources, and services, and the client network 12. Although not
specifically illustrated in FIG. 1, the client network 12 may also
include a connecting network device (e.g., a gateway or router) or
a combination of devices that implement a customer firewall or
intrusion protection system.
[0030] For the illustrated embodiment, FIG. 1 illustrates that
client network 12 is coupled to a network 14. The network 14 may
include one or more computing networks, such as other LANs, wide
area networks (WAN), the Internet, and/or other remote networks, to
transfer data between the client devices 20 and the network hosting
the platform 16. Each of the computing networks within network 14
may contain wired and/or wireless programmable devices that operate
in the electrical and/or optical domain. For example, network 14
may include wireless networks, such as cellular networks (e.g.,
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) based cellular
network), IEEE 802.11 networks, and/or other suitable radio-based
networks. The network 14 may also employ any number of network
communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). Although not explicitly shown in
FIG. 1, network 14 may include a variety of network devices, such
as servers, routers, network switches, and/or other network
hardware devices configured to transport data over the network
14.
[0031] In FIG. 1, the network hosting the platform 16 may be a
remote network (e.g., a cloud network) that is able to communicate
with the client devices 20 via the client network 12 and network
14. The network hosting the platform 16 provides additional
computing resources to the client devices 20 and/or the client
network 12. For example, by utilizing the network hosting the
platform 16, users of the client devices 20 are able to build and
execute applications for various enterprise, IT, and/or other
organization-related functions. In one embodiment, the network
hosting the platform 16 is implemented on the one or more data
centers 18, where each data center could correspond to a different
geographic location. Each of the data centers 18 includes a
plurality of virtual servers 26 (also referred to herein as
application nodes, application servers, virtual server instances,
application instances, or application server instances), where each
virtual server 26 can be implemented on a physical computing
system, such as a single electronic computing device (e.g., a
single physical hardware server) or across multiple-computing
devices (e.g., multiple physical hardware servers). Examples of
virtual servers 26 include, but are not limited to a web server
(e.g., a unitary Apache installation), an application server (e.g.,
unitary JAVA Virtual Machine), and/or a database server (e.g., a
unitary relational database management system (RDBMS) catalog).
[0032] To utilize computing resources within the platform 16,
network operators may choose to configure the data centers 18 using
a variety of computing infrastructures. In one embodiment, one or
more of the data centers 18 are configured using a multi-tenant
cloud architecture, such that one of the server instances 26
handles requests from and serves multiple customers. Data centers
18 with multi-tenant cloud architecture commingle and store data
from multiple customers, where multiple customer instances are
assigned to one of the virtual servers 26. In a multi-tenant cloud
architecture, the particular virtual server 26 distinguishes
between and segregates data and other information of the various
customers. For example, a multi-tenant cloud architecture could
assign a particular identifier for each customer in order to
identify and segregate the data from each customer. Generally,
implementing a multi-tenant cloud architecture may suffer from
various drawbacks, such as a failure of a particular one of the
server instances 26 causing outages for all customers allocated to
the particular server instance.
[0033] In another embodiment, one or more of the data centers 18
are configured using a multi-instance cloud architecture to provide
every customer its own unique customer instance or instances. For
example, a multi-instance cloud architecture could provide each
customer instance with its own dedicated application server and
dedicated database server. In other examples, the multi-instance
cloud architecture could deploy a single physical or virtual server
26 and/or other combinations of physical and/or virtual servers 26,
such as one or more dedicated web servers, one or more dedicated
application servers, and one or more database servers, for each
customer instance. In a multi-instance cloud architecture, multiple
customer instances could be installed on one or more respective
hardware servers, where each customer instance is allocated certain
portions of the physical server resources, such as computing
memory, storage, and processing power. By doing so, each customer
instance has its own unique software stack that provides the
benefit of data isolation, relatively less downtime for customers
to access the platform 16, and customer-driven upgrade schedules.
An example of implementing a customer instance within a
multi-instance cloud architecture will be discussed in more detail
below with reference to FIG. 2.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a
multi-instance cloud architecture 100 where embodiments of the
present disclosure may operate. FIG. 2 illustrates that the
multi-instance cloud architecture 100 includes the client network
12 and the network 14 that connect to two (e.g., paired) data
centers 18A and 18B that may be geographically separated from one
another. Using FIG. 2 as an example, network environment and
service provider cloud infrastructure client instance 102 (also
referred to herein as a client instance 102) is associated with
(e.g., supported and enabled by) dedicated virtual servers (e.g.,
virtual servers 26A, 26B, 26C, and 26D) and dedicated database
servers (e.g., virtual database servers 104A and 104B). Stated
another way, the virtual servers 26A-26D and virtual database
servers 104A and 104B are not shared with other client instances
and are specific to the respective client instance 102. In the
depicted example, to facilitate availability of the client instance
102, the virtual servers 26A-26D and virtual database servers 104A
and 104B are allocated to two different data centers 18A and 18B so
that one of the data centers 18 acts as a backup data center. Other
embodiments of the multi-instance cloud architecture 100 could
include other types of dedicated virtual servers, such as a web
server. For example, the client instance 102 could be associated
with (e.g., supported and enabled by) the dedicated virtual servers
26A-26D, dedicated virtual database servers 104A and 104B, and
additional dedicated virtual web servers (not shown in FIG. 2).
[0035] Although FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate specific embodiments of a
cloud computing system 10 and a multi-instance cloud architecture
100, respectively, the disclosure is not limited to the specific
embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. For instance, although
FIG. 1 illustrates that the platform 16 is implemented using data
centers, other embodiments of the platform 16 are not limited to
data centers and can utilize other types of remote network
infrastructures. Moreover, other embodiments of the present
disclosure may combine one or more different virtual servers into a
single virtual server or, conversely, perform operations attributed
to a single virtual server using multiple virtual servers. For
instance, using FIG. 2 as an example, the virtual servers 26A, 26B,
26C, 26D and virtual database servers 104A, 104B may be combined
into a single virtual server. Moreover, the present approaches may
be implemented in other architectures or configurations, including,
but not limited to, multi-tenant architectures, generalized
client/server implementations, and/or even on a single physical
processor-based device configured to perform some or all of the
operations discussed herein. Similarly, though virtual servers or
machines may be referenced to facilitate discussion of an
implementation, physical servers may instead be employed as
appropriate. The use and discussion of FIGS. 1 and 2 are only
examples to facilitate ease of description and explanation and are
not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific examples
illustrated therein.
[0036] As may be appreciated, the respective architectures and
frameworks discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2 incorporate
computing systems of various types (e.g., servers, workstations,
client devices, laptops, tablet computers, cellular telephones, and
so forth) throughout. For the sake of completeness, a brief, high
level overview of components typically found in such systems is
provided. As may be appreciated, the present overview is intended
to merely provide a high-level, generalized view of components
typical in such computing systems and should not be viewed as
limiting in terms of components discussed or omitted from
discussion.
[0037] By way of background, it may be appreciated that the present
approach may be implemented using one or more processor-based
systems such as shown in FIG. 3. Likewise, applications and/or
databases utilized in the present approach may be stored, employed,
and/or maintained on such processor-based systems. As may be
appreciated, such systems as shown in FIG. 3 may be present in a
distributed computing environment, a networked environment, or
other multi-computer platform or architecture. Likewise, systems
such as that shown in FIG. 3, may be used in supporting or
communicating with one or more virtual environments or
computational instances on which the present approach may be
implemented.
[0038] With this in mind, an example computer system may include
some or all of the computer components depicted in FIG. 3. FIG. 3
generally illustrates a block diagram of example components of a
computing system 200 and their potential interconnections or
communication paths, such as along one or more busses. As
illustrated, the computing system 200 may include various hardware
components such as, but not limited to, one or more processors 202,
one or more busses 204, memory 206, input devices 208, a power
source 210, a network interface 212, a user interface 214, and/or
other computer components useful in performing the functions
described herein.
[0039] The one or more processors 202 may include one or more
microprocessors capable of performing instructions stored in the
memory 206. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more
processors 202 may include application-specific integrated circuits
(ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and/or other
devices designed to perform some or all of the functions discussed
herein without calling instructions from the memory 206.
[0040] With respect to other components, the one or more busses 204
include suitable electrical channels to provide data and/or power
between the various components of the computing system 200. The
memory 206 may include any tangible, non-transitory, and
computer-readable storage media. Although shown as a single block
in FIG. 1, the memory 206 can be implemented using multiple
physical units of the same or different types in one or more
physical locations. The input devices 208 correspond to structures
to input data and/or commands to the one or more processors 202.
For example, the input devices 208 may include a mouse, touchpad,
touchscreen, keyboard and the like. The power source 210 can be any
suitable source for power of the various components of the
computing device 200, such as line power and/or a battery source.
The network interface 212 includes one or more transceivers capable
of communicating with other devices over one or more networks
(e.g., a communication channel). The network interface 212 may
provide a wired network interface or a wireless network interface.
A user interface 214 may include a display that is configured to
display text or images transferred to it from the one or more
processors 202. In addition and/or alternative to the display, the
user interface 214 may include other devices for interfacing with a
user, such as lights (e.g., LEDs), speakers, and the like.
[0041] With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 4 is a block diagram
illustrating an embodiment in which a virtual server 250 supports
and enables the client instance 102, according to one or more
disclosed embodiments. More specifically, FIG. 4 illustrates an
example of a portion of a service provider cloud infrastructure,
including the cloud-based platform 16 discussed above. The
cloud-based platform 16 is connected to a client device 20D via the
network 14 to provide a user interface to network applications
executing within the client instance 102 (e.g., via a web browser
of the client device 20D). Client instance 102 is supported by
virtual servers 26 similar to those explained with respect to FIG.
2, and is illustrated here to show support for the disclosed
functionality described herein within the client instance 102.
Cloud provider infrastructures are generally configured to support
a plurality of end-user devices, such as client device 20D,
concurrently, wherein each end-user device is in communication with
the single client instance 102. Also, cloud provider
infrastructures may be configured to support any number of client
instances, such as client instance 102, concurrently, with each of
the instances in communication with one or more end-user devices.
As mentioned above, an end-user may also interface with client
instance 102 using an application that is executed within a web
browser.
[0042] The discussion now turns to a mechanism for displaying
system data via one or more visualizations, enabling interactivity
with the system data, and reporting on the system data. FIG. 5 is a
block diagram illustrating performance analytics and reporting
(PAR) features facilitated through a homepage 300 and/or dashboard
302, in accordance with an embodiment. It should be understood,
however, that the homepage 300 and dashboard 302 are merely
examples and that in other embodiments, visualizations may be
created for workspace environments, reports, etc. in addition to
homepages and dashboards. As used herein, a "homepage" refers to a
graphical-user-interface (GUI) screen where data-driven widgets 304
may be placed in pre-defined containers 306 that have a static
placement and/or size. In the instant embodiment, one or more of
the widgets 304 include visualizations from a shared visualization
library.
[0043] In some embodiments, dashboard 302 may be it may be
configured to enable customized positioning and/or sizing of
widgets 304. As used herein, the term "dashboard" refers to a
graphical-user-interface (GUI) screen where data-driven widgets 304
may be placed on the screen without being constrained to
pre-defined containers 306 and/or static placement and/or size. In
other words, for the dashboard 302, the widgets 304 may be
dynamically moved to any location on the dashboard 302 without
being constrained to pre-defined locations, as indicated by arrows
308. Further, the size of the widgets 304 may be dynamically
altered in the dashboard 302, as indicated by sizing indicators 310
and arrows 312.
[0044] As there may be more flexibility in configuring a dashboard
302 over a homepage 300, it may be desirable in certain situations
to convert a homepage 300 to a dashboard 302. Indeed, it may be
burdensome to generate dashboards 302 from scratch after time and
effort may have already been afforded to creating a homepage 300.
Accordingly, in some embodiments, a conversion process 314 may be
implemented to convert a homepage 300 to a dashboard 302.
[0045] The conversion process 314 may identify the widgets 304
found on the homepage 300 (block 316). For example, a
computer-readable representation of the homepage 300 (e.g., a
homepage object) may be traversed to identify each of the widgets
304 on the homepage 300.
[0046] Further, the conversion process 314 may identify the
containers 306 and their associated sizes and placements for the
identified widgets 304 found on the homepage 300 (block 318). For
example, the computer-readable representation of the homepage 300
(e.g., a homepage object) may be traversed to identify each of the
containers 306 containing the widgets 304 on the homepage 300.
Position and/or size attributes of the containers 306 may be
identified by accessing object attributes of the computer-readable
representation of the homepage 300.
[0047] Once the widgets 304 and the containers 306 and their
attributes are identified, a corresponding dashboard 302 may be
generated (block 320). For example, computer instructions may
generate a computer-readable representation of the homepage 300,
inserting the widgets 304 at the position and/or size identified by
the container 306 attributes. Once the dashboard 302 is generated,
it may be accessed and the size and position of the widgets 304 may
be modified dynamically.
[0048] The widgets 304 may be independent data-driven software that
perform particular tasks. For example, the widgets 304 may provide
visualizations generated based upon datasets of the system, such as
those present within database. The widgets 304 may be selected, for
example, from a library (e.g., a visualization library).
[0049] In accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure, the widgets 304 are generated according to a guided
workflow presented as a part of a graphical user interface (GUI)
configured to facilitate generation of analytics and/or reporting
widgets on an embodiment of the homepage or an embodiment of the
dashboard. Though widgets may be created for a wide range of
functions, the instant embodiments are focused on tracking
incidents. Depending on the data being tracked, an "incident" may
be any occurrence that a user is interested in tracking. For
example, in some embodiments, an incident may be the opening of a
service ticket, the number of open service tickets on a given day,
a network outage, a hardware failure, a software failure, a login
failure, a request for action, an unfulfilled purchase request, a
security breach, a virus or malware warning, an event, a filed
complaint, or any other occurrence or metric a user is interested
on monitoring.
[0050] Once generated, the dashboard may receive inputs
manipulating one or more of the widgets and/or visualizations. For
example, the inputs may include selection of one or more breakdown
elements. The breakdown elements may include various categories of
the underlying data, such that selection of breakdown elements
gives the user a more nuanced and comprehensive view of the
underlying data. In response to the inputs, the dashboard may
update the widgets and/or visualizations to reflect selection of
one or more breakdown elements.
[0051] FIG. 6 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
302. As shown, the dashboard 302 includes a first widget 400, a
second widget 402, and a third widget 404. However, as previously
described, the dashboard 302 may be customized to include as many
or as few widgets 400, 402, 404 as the user prefers. Further, the
type of widgets 400, 402, 404, the sizes of the widgets 400, 402,
404, and the positions of the widgets 400, 402, 404 may be
customized by the user.
[0052] In the instant embodiment, the first widget 400 is a
visualization showing a time series plot of the number of open
incidents by day, wherein a line 406 indicates the total number of
open incidents on a given day. The second widget 402 is a
visualization showing the total number of incidents that have not
been updated in the previous 5 days. The third widget 404 displays
the number of open incidents on a given day, broken out by
priority. Within the third widget 404, for each day, a column is
shown. The height of the column indicates the total number of open
incidents on that day. Each block of color within the column
indicates the number of open incidents given a specific priority
designation. As shown, moving a cursor or a mouse icon over parts
of the widgets 400, 402, 404 may cause a pop-up window 407 to open,
displaying additional information about this part of the widget
400, 402, 404.
[0053] Further, the dashboard 302 may include tabs, selectable by
the user to display various sets of widgets. In the illustrated
embodiment, the incident daily 408 tab is selected and first,
second, and third widgets 400, 402, 404 are shown. However,
selection of an incident 7d tab 410 or an incident 28d tab 412 may
cause other sets of widgets to be displayed. As with the widgets,
the names and orders of the tabs 408, 410, 412 may be customizable
by a user.
[0054] The dashboard 302 may also include a breakdown element group
field 414 and a breakdown element field 416. Breakdown elements are
categories by which the underlying data may be broken down. These
breakdown elements may be separated into groups. For example, in
the instant embodiment, incident category has been selected in the
breakdown element group field 414. These incident categories may
include, for example, breakdown elements of inquiry, software,
hardware, network, database, etc. Other breakdown element groups
may include, for example, age of incident, priority of incident,
team assigned to incident, etc. Once a breakdown element group has
been selected from a drop down menu, upon selecting the breakdown
element field 416, the options for breakdown elements may be
displayed.
[0055] FIG. 7 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard 302
shown in FIG. 6 with the breakdown element field 416 selected. As
shown, once the breakdown element field 416 is selected, a drop
down menu 450 may appear displaying the various breakdown element
options. The user may select a breakdown element via the dropdown
menu 450. Once a breakdown element is selected, the breakdown
element appears in the breakdown element field 416.
[0056] FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard 302
shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with a software breakdown element 500
selected. Once one or more breakdown elements are selected, the
widgets are updated to reflect the selected breakdown element or
elements. For example, in FIG. 8, because the software breakdown
element 500 is selected, the widgets 400, 402, 404 have been
updated to only show data for incidents related to software. As
shown, the software breakdown element 500 appears within the
breakdown element field 416. The software breakdown element 500
includes a remove button 502, which allows a user to easily
unselect the breakdown element. By selecting the breakdown element
field 416 again, a user may select an additional breakdown
element.
[0057] FIG. 9 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard 302
shown in FIGS. 6-8 with the software breakdown element 500 selected
and breakdown element field 416 selected. As illustrated, the drop
down menu 450 appears and displays the remaining unselected
breakdown elements within the selected breakdown elements group.
The user may select one of the remaining breakdown elements from
the drop down menu 450 in order to add another breakdown
element.
[0058] FIG. 10 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
302 shown in FIGS. 6-9 with the software breakdown element 500 and
a network breakdown element 550 selected, as well as the breakdown
element field 416. Upon selection of the network breakdown element
550 (in addition to the software breakdown element 500), the
widgets 400, 402, 404 have been updated to only show data for
incidents related to software and networks.
[0059] It should be understood that each of the widgets 400, 402,
404 may be set to display as a separate view or an aggregate view
as multiple breakdown elements are selected. For example, the first
widget 400 is set to display an aggregate view, so as multiple
breakdown elements are selected, the widget displays the total
number of open incidents that fall into one or more of the selected
categories. That is, the line 406 indicates the total number of
open incidents on a given day that are related to software or
networks.
[0060] Alternatively, the second widget 402 is set to display a
separate view, so as multiple breakdown elements are selected, the
widget displays a separate column for each of the selected
categories. That is, second widget includes a first column 552 that
represents that number of software-related incidents that have not
been updated in the 5 previous days and a second column 554 that
represents the number of network-related incidents that have not
been updated in the 5 previous days.
[0061] As illustrated, the drop down menu 450 appears and displays
the remaining unselected breakdown elements within the selected
breakdown elements group. The user may select one of the remaining
breakdown elements from the drop down menu 450 in order to add
another breakdown element.
[0062] FIG. 11 is a screenshot of an embodiment of the dashboard
302 shown in FIGS. 6-10 with the software breakdown element 500,
the network breakdown element 550, and the database breakdown
element 600 selected. Upon selection of the database breakdown
element 600 (in addition to the software breakdown element 500 and
the network breakdown element 550), the widgets 400, 402, 404 have
been updated to only show data for incidents related to software,
networks, and databases. For example, in the first widget 400, the
line now represents the total number of open incidents on a given
day that are related to software, networks, and/or databases.
Similarly, the second widget 402 still includes the first column
552 and the second column 554, but has added a third column 602
representing the number of database-related incidents that have not
been updated in the 5 previous days.
[0063] As previously discussed, each of the widgets 400, 402, and
404 may be set to display an aggregate view or a separate view when
multiple breakdown elements are selected. FIG. 12 is a screenshot
of a widget definition interface 650, by which a user may define
one or more aspects of a widget, including whether the widget
displays an aggregate view or a separate view when multiple
breakdown elements are selected. As illustrated, the widget
definition interface 650 includes a view type field 652. Selecting
the view type field 652 may cause a drop down menu to appear. The
user may then select an aggregate view type or a separate view type
from the drop down menu.
[0064] FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate an alternate embodiment for
displaying breakdown elements within the dashboard 302. FIG. 13
illustrates an embodiment of the dropdown menu 450 that appears
when the breakdown element field 416 is selected. As shown, the
drop down menu 450 includes a search bar 700 that allows a user to
search for breakdown elements and a sort bar 702 that allows a user
to sort breakdown elements. In the embodiments of the dropdown menu
450 shown and described with regard to FIGS. 7-10, already selected
breakdown elements were removed from the dropdown menu 450.
However, in the embodiment of the drop down menu 450 shown in FIG.
13, the selected breakdown elements remain in the dropdown menu 450
when selected, but have a check mark indicating that they have been
selected. When "all" is selected in the sort bar 702, all of the
available breakdown elements are displayed in the dropdown menu
450.
[0065] FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of the dropdown menu 450
that appears when the breakdown element field 416 is selected and
the "applied" option is selected in the sort bar 702. As shown,
when the "applied" option is selected in the sort bar 702, only the
selected breakdown elements are displayed.
[0066] FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a process 750 for updating a
widget based on selection of breakdown elements. At block 752, the
process 750 receives an indication of a widget view type. In some
embodiments, the widget view type may be stored in memory and
retrieved rather than received. This may include, for example, an
aggregated view or a separate view. At block 754, the process 750
receives selection of a breakdown element. At block 756, the
process 750 updates the widget based on the widget view type and
the selected breakdown element. At block 758, the process 750
receives selection of an additional breakdown element. At block
760, the widget is updated based on the widget view type and the
selected breakdown elements. If another breakdown element is
selected, the process may return to block 758 and receive the
additional breakdown element and then update the widget accordingly
based on the widget view type and the selected breakdown elements
(block 760).
[0067] The disclosed techniques include receiving selection of
multiple breakdown elements and updating a visualization within the
widget based on the selected breakdown elements. The widget may
have an aggregate view type or a separate view type. In the
aggregate view type, data associated with the selected breakdown
elements is combined into a single plot. In the separate view type,
data associated with the selected breakdown elements is kept
separate and shown in separate respective plots. The widget may be
part of a dashboard having multiple widgets. The dashboard may
include some widgets having an aggregate view type and other
widgets having a separate view type.
[0068] The specific embodiments described above have been shown by
way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments
may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms.
It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to
be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover
all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the
spirit and scope of this disclosure.
[0069] The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced
and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a
practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical
field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely
theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this
specification contain one or more elements designated as "means for
[perform]ing [a function] . . . " or "step for [perform]ing [a
function] . . . ", it is intended that such elements are to be
interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims
containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended
that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C.
112(f).
* * * * *